In Search of Old Rics for TLC

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:00 am

I've done minor work with guitar repair, but I'd love to find some old Ric that needs to be brought back to life and have a really good "project" to work on. I'm not really specific...it can be a guitar or bass. Does anyone have any recommendations to get started? I know there is the pawn shop / ebay route...but just curious.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:06 pm

Alisha, I think that pawn shops are so far down on the list as to be a non-starter. Their prices are on the silly scale and the quality of stock is generally very bad. Name brand stuff is usually saved for the owner's own collection or his friends or other dealers.

Ebay is a very, very risky place to look for fixer-uppers, as you will nearly always over pay for one. You've really got to know your item, be up to the minute on prices, and know which questions to ask.

There are too many sharks selling and newbies, wannabees, and guppies lurking for deals in that fixer-upper fishbowl.

Forums like this, where you can put the word out, are a good bet, especially if you are looking for certain makes and raw bodies and parts to complete projects.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 1:02 pm

Thanks Paul!

So here's my pitch: Do you have more ric's than you have fingers? Do you have that one that has a little too many scuffs, too many problems? Do you want to sell it to someone who will rework it from the ground up and make it look like the knockout that it truly is? Someone that will never sell it for a profit and just wants to truly create something that they can be proud of?

How's that? If it says "rickenbacker", then that's all I need. Let me know

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:08 pm

Nice try, Alisha..... back of the queue, please!!

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:23 pm

Howard...I'm hurt. I worked long and hard on that

Gotta get in the game sometime, right?

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:37 pm

Absolutely!! You can have my spot in the queue, Alisha. I have more than enough Ricks.

Now, let's work this out - I'm 127th in line, sooo........

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:06 pm

Touche. I like that. Now...only 126 other people to go

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:50 am

What I like about my Apple computer (well, one of the things) is that I can write things like "touché" without jumping through all sorts of mental and keyboard hoops...

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:15 pm

I posted mine on a mac and it didn't pick up

Maybe it's sick.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:36 pm

option E, E?

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:41 pm

Wow. Paul, you teach me so much.

Thanks!

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:47 pm

Hmmm... this last letter in "touché", which is supposed to be e accent aigu, looks like the Russian letter for the [j] sound on my screen...

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri May 26, 2006 8:47 pm

Hey Alisha, if you're still looking for a project Rickenbacker, there is a Model 230 JG on the Seattle craigslist:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/msg/164587695.html

Rickenbacker 230 Hamburg - $500
-------------------------------------------------
Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2006-05-25, 10:35AM PDT

Pretty darn rare black 80s Ric solidbody guitar made in the USA. I actually picked up fairly close to Hamburg maybe six years ago. It sounds great and I believe Joe Walsh and/or Glen Frey uses/used these a bunch.

This guitar, however, might be considered a project. The fingerboard has separated some from the neck (near the headstock) and a previous owner decided to reglue it. Unfortunately, this makes it hard to adjust with the truss rods (plural-- it's a ric). It will probably be a case of taking off the fingerboard, cleaning it up some and putting it back on, all of which is beyond my skill level. I've gotten estimates from $100-250 or so to have someone else do this.

The guitar has some dings, etc, but it plays well (esp. considering the neck issue) and sounds great and unique.

These rarely, if ever, come up on ebay, so I thought I'd ask $500 for it but consider all reasonable offers. I'd prefer to sell it locally.

Since this is a rare model, I included a picture taken from the web until I have a chance to do detailed photos. (the logo is black on mine).

this is in or around Capitol Hill

It looks like the seller would take less, which is certainly warranted in this case.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:31 am

Hey Gary, Thanks! I saw that posting on Seattle's CL last night and thought it looked interesting. What do you think is a fair price for something like that?

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Sat May 27, 2006 8:57 am

I'm guessing somewhere around $300-$350 due to the serious nature of the neck problem (there was an underlying problem that caused the fretboard separation, and simply gluing the fretboard back down would not have fixed that).

I think it would be useful to get Paul's or Dale's expert opinion with regard to the repair(s) needed; I'll post cross-thread in the Vibrola section.